12a) Catherine Colebrook

Tivoli │12a previous / next │main map / tivoli map

40 Andover Road

1899 advert for R. Strang

Originally number 5 Tivoli Place, this property was a private house in 1850, shared by two families: a gardener, his wife and two servants and a lodger; and a milliner, two infant sons and a servant lodger. Between 1870 and 1895 it was the offices for S. Marchant, builder, and R. Strang, ironmonger and heating engineer.

Robert Strang was born in Devon in 1842 and came to Cheltenham at the age of 19, when he studied at the School of Art. He worked for the builder's merchant J. Cormell for a few years, before joining his brother in Chicago, USA, where he witnessed the great fire of 1871, which killed around 300 people. As a result if his wife's poor health, Robert returned to Cheltenham. In 1879 he opened an ironmonger's shop in Montpellier Walk and in 1890 he acquired Cormell's business here in Tivoli Place. The Montpellier shop later became R. Strang & Son but here in Tivoli the original business name was retained. Robert Strang died in 1914, aged 73.

One of the products supplied by R. Strang is this cooking range, installed in a house in Cheltenham. (Image courtesy of Megan Broadley.)

Left is a maker's plate, previously attached to an unknown item of hardware or an appliance. The "Lansdowne Warehouse" was in Tivoli, possibly at or adjacent to these premises. (Image courtesy of Peter Howe.)

The property was later used for short periods by various small businesses, until 1935 when it was acquired by Charles Probert for his ‘PA Meat Company Butcher’ business. By 1950 it was for a short while the premises for ‘Elliot’s Boot and Shoe Repairs’, and from the 1960s, ‘Gordon Mustoe, TV, Radio & Electrical Engineers.’ The Fireplace Shop was here from 1999 until July 2014 when this became home to Catherine Colebrook, who produce designs for homes and giftware.

Renumbering of some of the properties was undertaken and additional numbers added as new premises were built or adapted at the back of existing ones or old, existing ones were shared. This is especially noticeable in 1885, 1948 and finally in 1966 when the properties in Andover Road were completely renumbered. Further alterations to the shops terrace were made after the rebuilding program in 1990.

Elliot’s Boot and Shoe repairs, c. 1960 with Gordon Mustoe on the right, outside the Tivoli Inn

Researcher: Brian Torode.
Updated: Stuart Manton (May 2018)

Catherine Colebrook

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2013

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